A Reading Reflection: 2015
The annual obligatory “top ten” post may seem a bit rote or overdone at this point, but I think its persistence indicates an actually legitimate desire to reflect on the year that has passed us by. At least for me, it’s more about going back and thinking about what I’ve consumed in my year of reading and the various states of mind I experienced throughout those twelve months. It’s less about actually trying to rank books on some kind of achievement scale.
So, to the year in review. I read 59 books this year (one less than my goal, grrr). It felt like I read a lot of nonfiction, but only 17 actually were, which is probably still a lot more than past years. Half of this year was finishing the Michiko Challenge (www.iwantmichikosjob.com), so I read a lot of new books just by default of shadowing Kakutani in her NYTimes reviews. In compiling my favorite ten, I realized I read A LOT of good books this year because my top 7 are all pretty much a tie in my mind. Here they are (hyperlinks are to full reviews on I Want Michiko’s Job):
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (pub. 2014)
I delayed in reading this book because of my book club, but when I got around to it I totally understood all the praise. At over 500 pages, it’s not short but it almost feels that way because of the light, airy prose and short chapters. I was completely sucked in by Doerr’s beautiful writing and the unraveling suspense of the story.
2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (pub. 2014)
This dystopian novel takes on the post-plague world in a very alternative way, focusing more on the small things about civilization that we all take for granted rather than action and conspiracy. I found the beauty of this novel in the way Mandel captured the individual experience and imagery of what living through an apocalypse may be like. In some points, it’s so realistic it can be a bit creepy (in a good way!).
3. War of the Encyclopaedists by Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite (pub. 2015)
I may love this book because it found me at exactly the right time(aka I am the demographic of this book). A novel about two recent college grads, one who ships out to war with the National Guard and the other who heads off to grad school at Harvard, I feel like it perfectly captures the confused millennial experience. There’s an inner contradiction within 20-somethings about the promise they grew up believing in as children and the reality of the very changed world we actually live in. This book takes on how people of that age are figuring it all out.
4. Euphoria by Lily King (pub. 2014)
Inspired by the life of Margaret Mead, Euphoria follows three anthropologists studying the tribes of New Guinea in the 1930s. Oh yeah, and there’s a love triangle. Ultimately, I just totally was enthralled by this book in a cannot-put-it-down kind of way. Any book that has that effect on me is an instant top ten. And Margaret Mead is awesome, I want to read everything about her now.
5. All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (pub. 2014)
Disclaimer: This book is very sad and very much about suicide. At the same time, Toews has this wonderful quirky sense of humor. I want to write like Toews, I just fell in love with her style.
6. The Martian by Andy Weir (pub. 2014)
I don’t think I need to say a lot about this because everybody knows. Matt Damon. Obviously, the book is better than the movie, so read the book.
7. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (pub. 2009)
An awesome YA book that adults will love, especially if you are a fan of “A Wrinkle In Time.” It will take 2 hours to read this book and it is very much worth it.
8. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (pub. 2012)
Again, this memoir was recently a movie and again, the book is so much better. My favorite parts of the story are when Strayed really gets into the trail and the people she meets, less the reasons that make her do it in the first place. It made me want to go hike the PCT myself, though kind of not really because it’s super hard.
9. ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (pub. 2015)
I don’t know, this book may already be out of date due to the ever-changing status of its subject, but I found it to be a really educational, well-rounded account of how ISIS came to be what it is today and where the situation stands (as of March 2015 or so). Also, she devotes a large section to the impact of social media, which was super interesting. Turn off cable news and read this instead.
10. All Involved by Ryan Gattis (pub. 2015)
All Involved is a fictionalized account of one L.A. neighborhood during the infamous 6 days of rioting back in 1992. The chaos basically created a lawless land and Gattis explores what’s happening among gangs, youth, and police in the urban neighborhoods behind-the-scenes of the headline events. The book can be graphic, but it’s well-written and seems especially relevant to the current events of our country now over 20 years later.
And there’s my top 10! These books had the biggest impact on me personally, though of the other 49 books I read there are many others that were very good and then of course some that I just didn’t get (though still finished because I’m always hoping a book will redeem itself!). Of course, there are hundreds more books which I didn’t read and will probably never read, boo. I noticed I read zero old books (the oldest was Stephen King’s “On Writing” published in 2002!), so that may be a goal for the new year. Although I hate to say it, I probably will be reading less in 2016 because I need to be WRITING MORE and I also unfortunately need to sleep, so sacrifices must be made. Happy New Year!